A typical molten glass feeding bowl is generally semicircular and includes a refractory bowl, a metal housing around the bowl and insulation therebetween. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 1,680,543. It is conventional to provide a plurality of electrical heaters between the metal housing and the refractory bowl for controlling localized heating of molten glass within the bowl.
Modern construction of shears create a problem in application of heat to glass within the bowl due to the fact that the shears must be positionable through an arc of 180.degree. so as to be properly orientated with respect to gob handling equipment which receives gobs of glass cut by the shears after discharge through an orifice ring of the bowl. Another problem with prior art devices such as disclosed in said patent is the inefficiency of heat transmission resulting from the fact that heat is transmitted from heaters through a refractory bowl to the glass. These and other problems are solved by the present invention.